Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Shift work is set to pay off
Performances at Summerlee
Cast members and crew are hard at work on the final preparations for industrial arts performance Shift, which opens at Summerlee tomorrow evening.
More than 40 locals forming the play’s community cast have been busy rehearsing at Whifflet community centre and on site at the spectacular outdoor set constructed in the grounds of the Coatbridge museum.
Shift has seen the National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) and Culture NL team up over six months to find and tell stories of North Lanarkshire residents’ working lives and the area’s industrial history.
Contributions have been gathered from special events involving local residents, workers and youth theatre groups, and have now been captured in this week’s finale.
NTS describe the performance as “a large-scale, outdoor, multi-media event featuring striking video and lighting, and original music and words from punters, poets, playwrights and pensmiths from across North Lanarkshire, [telling] the stories of the many ‘shifts’ put in by the workers who built the world and created our future”.
Leading the cast will be Airdrie actor Daniel Cahill, who is one of four professionals joining forces with the community cast.
He told the Advertiser: “The show is looking amazing in rehearsals and it’s an honour and privilege to be part of it. I was really happy to come on board and tell more people about the area and its history. With the community cast members, it doesn’t feel like they’re acting – they’re genuine voices and they’re using this platform to tell their own and their families’ working stories.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing these cast members sharing their amazing stories for the first time, recognising that history and heritage and being proud of where they’re from.
“We’re seeing the attitude and work ethic that this whole area is full of, that ship-building, empire-making spirit; it’s really exciting building up to this massive performance and it feels like Christmas Eve to our group.”
The cast have been rehearsing in earnest and getting set to share the stage with Daniel and fellow professional actors Fletcher Mathers, Katie Barnett and Stephen Clyde, and Simon Sharkey of NTS, who has written and directed the performance.
Key behind-the-scenes moments have also been captured by New College Lanarkshire students through a series of online magazine shows called Shift Transmission, which feature interviews and rehearsals.
Daniel added: “There are a lot of moving parts and technical elements, so the professional cast have been in rehearsals for a month to make sure we knew the show really well when we linked up with the community cast.
“It’s been fantastic and really exciting as the community here is just like a massive family. When I was running about Airdrie when I was young, everybody knew me and my parents and if I misbehaved I’d get into trouble from some woman I’d never met!
“That family runs through the whole cast and it’s great to see all these people and generations coming together to tell their and their families’ stories, of working in mines and mills.”
“Summerlee is looking great, with its huge foreground set up with TV towers and lighting rigs there – when we were there for the first rehearsal last week it was like starring in a rock concert, with spotlights, music and smoke machines.”
Daniel trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has appeared in River City, BBC Three sitcom Pumped and NTS productions the James plays and Truant.
The 26-year-old took time out from Shift rehearsals to visit his old school, St Margaret’s High, to see his former drama teacher Monica Nisbet and to see performances from fourth-year pupils currently preparing for exams.
He added: “It was really good to be back and find out what St Margaret’s is up to – there are quite a few former pupils who are now actors, in London and LA, and it’s really encouraging to see that they’re still championing the arts.”
Shift opens tomorrow and runs until Sunday, with performances taking place at 7.45pm and tickets costing £10, £8 and £5 available from www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/ shift or by calling 01698 403120.